Chapter 5 - Observations of a Baby Dragon
Hours later the dress had been finished and Spike had begun making his way back home while chewing on some gems given to him by Rarity for his help throughout the day.
As he reached home ans made his way up to the room he shared with Twilight to put away his gems when he noticed that, unsurprisingly, Twilight was nowhere to be found.
‘Probably still working on that mare thing. I wonder what she wants for dinner?’ With that thought he made his way to where he supposed she would be. As she rarely leaves her working area when in the "groove" for her experiments, the place he quickly decided on was the guest room.
He left, making his way to the guest room where he assumed, correctly, that Twilight had been since he left. As he was about to knock on the door he heard her speaking. He assumed that she was simply mumbling her notes and thoughts out loud. He prepared to knock once again when his attention was caught by a more clear word, or name as the case was.
“…Rarity…”
After hearing her name his interest was piqued. Sure if he was caught Twilight was probably going to yell at him for eavesdropping again, but if she doesn't catch him then everything is, as Pinkie Pie would say, “okie dokie loki”.
Putting his head against the door he was able to start making out what Twilight was saying.
“So, I suggest we try ‘Truth or Dare’, thinking that it could be a good idea. I mean, it’s a game so they should be happy while playing right?”
There was a pause and Spike couldn’t hear anything during it. Yet it sounded like Twilight had.
“Exactly. But instead they just start daring each other out of anger, completely ignoring the rules. Although, I do have to admit seeing AJ wearing the most frilly thing I had ever seen was pretty funny and when Rarity came in soaked from being dared to go into the rain she looked so… Ehem. Anyway…”
“…”
By now Spike had completely forgotten about the fact his attention was grabbed by Rarity’s name and now he was pondering the strangeness of what he was hearing. ‘Who could she be talking to? I can’t hear anything but her voice.’ It seemed so strange. With only one voice it sounded like Twilight was having some sort of one sided conversation. He could understand if she was simply talking to herself. Everypony does that now and then, Twilight more so than most. But this was undeniably odd. This was more like talking with yourself. Spike had known Twilight his whole life. He knew her oddities and this was most definitely not among them. His worry of being reprimanded for eavesdropping was forgotten in place for his worry for his big sister-figure. His mental musings were cut short as he heard Twilight exclaim loudly.
“I-Bu-Wha-Uh-“ She stuttered like that for about ten seconds before she finished in what sounded like a passable attempt at imitating Fluttershy “Yes” Hearing her clear her throat he could only assume she was getting herself back under control. “Anyway. Be that as it may afterwards we attempted a pillow fight. It ended up as more of a pillow war. Luckily going to bed created a cease fire. Though territorial disputes continued even then.”
Spike remembered this story. It was about Twilight’s first sleepover when Applejack and Rarity got stuck here in the rain. If he remembered correctly after the sleeping issues came-
“Then Applejack, without looking at the angle that it would come down, ended up crashing a huge branch into my bedroom and there was nothing in the book about it!”
“…”
“Well of course it should have been in the book. It happened during a slumber party so it should have been in a book that had ‘Everything You Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties’ in the title. There was a branch in my room during a slumber party and I wanted to know about it. They shouldn't mislabel books like that.”
“…”
“Well it should have. Anyway. While I was looking through the book for anything about branches apparently AJ understood why Rarity’s attention to detail was so important at times and Rarity figured out why messy jobs can be important as well. They worked together and my room was soon branch free. Except for about half a dozen small ones with shapes made of the leaves that Rarity made from the big branch. They were really nice.”
At this point Spike was definitely worried for Twilight's mental being. She seemed to be alone in there having a conversation by herself. If nothing else he was most definitely disturbed.
“Hm? Oh! You’re right! He should be home any minute now! Thanks for reminding me!”
Spike heard some shuffling around the room but he was hardly concerned with it as his thoughts were mostly about getting away from this door and rushing down the stairs without falling down each one.
After successfully making his way downstairs, he went to the kitchen and stuck his head inside the fridge to make him at least look like he was doing something. He could feel himself tensing up terribly as he sat there, letting the time pass until Twilight would come down and enter the kitchen. Luckily he didn't have to wait too long, or not so lucky if you’re a baby dragon, worrying about a possibly mentally broken, magical powerhouse of a unicorn coming towards him.
“Oh! Hey Spike. So you are home already. That’s great!” He heard her exclaim happily from behind him at the one and only entrance to the kitchen. Cursing his lack of foresight he, all too quickly, spun around.
“Hey Twi! What’s up?!” He said much too quickly, not to mention loudly.
Twilight cocked her head slightly at the strange actions of the baby dragon but shrugged it off in favor of the reason for having this room in their house. Namely, food.
“Not much. So what’s for dinner Spike?”
Even though he should have been expecting this line of questioning what he had heard earlier caused his usual thought process to be a bit off thus catching him off guard with the normality of the question.
“Oh, um. I’m not really sure. Anything in particular you’re hungry for?” he asked, the nervousness that had previously plagued him beginning to dissipate thanks to the normality of the situation. ‘Mane in place, normal smile and no eye twitch. Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought.’ He observed as he waited for an answer.
“Hmm. You know, I’m actually pretty hungry now that I think of it.” She said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought.
“Okay. Cool. So, what should we have?” He asked as she sat there, still thinking.
“You know what Spike? Surprise me. I’m sure whatever you make will be delicious.” She said before making her way out of the kitchen.
“Are you going back to the guest room?” He asked offhandedly before realizing that there could be implications tied to what he said.
“Hm? What did you say Spike?” She asked, having not heard him clearly.
“Uh, I asked you what are you going to do while I cook?” He asked inwardly thankful that she hadn’t heard him. He was able to say something completely different and she was none the wiser.
“Oh. I was just going to continue the book I was reading yesterday. Did you know that there is distinctive evidence that ancient equestrians may have used golems for much of their heavy work? It’s referenced in quite a few myths and the evidence even correlates with the time periods that the myths were created in! It’s actually quite interesting.” Spike chuckled, easily recognizing the studious unicorn he grew up with. His worry dissipated into almost nothing as he absentmindedly listened to her excited and intellectual ramblings. However he had to focus on his cooking so he needed to get the distractive, intellectual chatterbox out of the room for the moment.
“I’m sure it’s all really interesting Twi. But I need to start cooking if we’re going to eat dinner anytime soon. But since you told me to surprise you I need you out of the kitchen. I’m sure you’re excited to get back to that book after all.” He said with another chuckle. It was probably a good thing dinner was supposed to be a surprise. That way she wouldn't offer to help. Last time it took two weeks to get the scorch marks off the ceiling.
“Oh! Right. Alright, I’m going. I’ll see you in a little while Spike. Have fun cooking!” She said as she made her way out of the room. Before she fully crossed the threshold she looked back at him and added, “I’m looking forward to it even more now.”
Spike simply rolled his eyes and went to work.
Twilight had just read through “Ancient Equestrian Golem Theories and Corroborating Evidence Supporting Them” and was currently laying down, thinking of the similarities between golems and the artificial personality sitting in a closet upstairs, in her guest room. Golems were originally created as mindless beings used solely for physical labor, while the AP was created as an unmoving being purely of thought.
‘Well at least I won’t have to worry about her going crazy like the golems did. She already has free thought after all, and if she somehow suddenly got movement it probably wouldn’t overload her mind, causing her to snap. It would probably more so bring a feeling of elation.’ Her train of thought of stopped at a sudden realization, ‘She? Well, I suppose it does have a feminine voice.’ Before she could give more thought to the idea that she may have unconsciously given a gender to her upstairs project she heard Spike call her for dinner.
“Coming!” She said loud enough for him to hear. She made her way into the kitchen finding herself before a veritable feast.
“Well you did say you were pretty hungry right? So I decided to go all out. I bet you’re pretty surprised too huh?” He said, waving his claw above the food.
Twilight could only stare at the food before her before she was broken from her stupor when Spike spoke again.
“Twi. You’re drooling.” He said, chuckling at the silly look on Twilight's face.
“Spike, this looks amazing.” She said as she finally broke herself out of the stupor the food had caused and seated herself. The delicious looking smorgasbord was quickly attacked by a combination of a hungry unicorn and baby dragon.
About halfway into the meal Twilight had finally gotten enough food inside her to stand eating slowly and start a conversation with Spike.
“So Spike, what did you do with your day off?” Spike perked up and prepared to answer before he was quickly cut off by Twilight. “Swallow your food Spike.” He quickly complied and began speaking of his day off.
“Well I went over to Rarity’s-“ He began
‘Why am I not surprised?’ She thought, rolling her eyes
“-and she had me help with this dress she was working on. It was actually kind of cool. Ya know, for a dress. It reminded me of Pee Wee a lot. But anyways, that was all I did till I came home.” He ended, figuring that there was really nothing of interest in his day. Twilight however was eager to keep the friendly conversation going.
“Well, did you two talk about anything interesting?”
“She actually asked about you a lot” He explained, much to the interest of Twilight.
“O-oh? Did she now? What did she ask about?” She asked as her face turned a slight shade of scarlet with a slightly larger smile on her face.
“Yeah she was really interested in whatever it was that you've been working on.” As he said this, the blush left, along with much of the original color of her face.
The smile slipped from her face, leaving a simple line as she inquired further, “What did you tell her then?
“Not much I could tell her-“ At this, the natural color started to return and she was able to force a more natural smile. “-so I just said it was a mare thing she basically dropped it.” At the mention of what he had told her, her face went back to the shade of red from earlier. The embarrassment obvious on her face for anypony that may have been paying attention for her to see. Luckily nopony was around to see. Unluckily there was still a dragon.
“Hey Twi, what’s up with your face?” Twilight quickly snapped to attention, attempting to stutter out an answer for a short time before she was able to speak and subsequently redirect the conversation away from ‘Mare Things’.
“So Spike. How did you make all of this? I’m pretty sure you haven’t made some of this before.” She said, trying to play on his love of cooking. Luckily, it worked and Twilight had successfully changed the topic of the conversation for the rest of the meal.
With the completion of the meal and subsequent cleaning of the dishes, the two residents of Golden Oaks Library began making their way upstairs to their room when Spike noticed Twilight walking right past their room.
“Hey Twi. The room is right here.” He said, growing worried when he realized where she was most likely going.
Turning her head slightly to look at Spike she answered, “I’ll be along shortly Spike. I just have some things to do.” She turned her head back forward and opened the door to the guest room.
’Twilight? I didn't expect you to be back again today. Or is it the next day already?’ Twilight heard in her head as she shut the door.
“Oh! Hey there!” She answered happily “Let’s get you out of there, shall we?” she said, quickly going about getting the AP out of the closet. “There we go. No it’s not the next day and yeah, I didn't think I would be back up here so soon either. But, I wanted your thoughts on something and there were a few things I forgot to do earlier.” She said, making her way to the bed across from the AP.
’Alright. Go ahead Twilight.’
“Alright, well- I’m not too worried about it but, earlier Spike went to go help out Rarity at her shop and from what he was saying it seems like she was really interested in the project I was working on all day. You know, all the time I was spending in here?”
’She wasn't interested in you? For shame.’ The AP said teasingly. However, she didn't get anywhere near the reaction she was expecting.
“No. But I accepted that a long time ago.” She said mirthlessly
”Twilight-” she began softly
“Anyway.” Twilight quickly interrupted “Like I said she was apparently asking a lot about what I was doing today. Any thoughts on why she might have been so interested?”
The AP was reluctant to answer, still feeling that she should apologize for making light of something that obviously weighed heavier on Twilight’s mind than she might have guessed. Regardless, she would give her time. So she obliged the unicorn. “Well did you do anything strange when you picked up my body from her? Something like that could have caught her attention and raised her curiosity?
The sound of hoof meeting face filled the room soon after the question was asked. However only one of the occupants had the sight to see the cause of the noise. ’What was that?’
With a sigh Twilight lowered her hoof back to the bed. “Nothing. I just remembered something that fit what you asked. You see, when I went to grab your body I may have been a bit too nervous. It wasn't too bad so I don’t think she would have noticed anything.”
’Would have?’ The AP asked, waiting for Twilight to elaborate.
“Yeah…See, after I got your body my first thought was about getting out of there as soon as possible before I became so nervous that she started noticing. So I kind of… teleported away before she could say anything.” With a sigh she finished, “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty indeed. She probably got curious as to why I would leave so suddenly. But hey, as long as she’s only curious and not suspicious everything should be fine. It’s not like she even reads mysteries, let alone would she do something like start an investigation on her own. That's more of Pinkies' thing.”
”Well looks like we found the answer to our own mystery. But, you said that you had some things you forgot about during your last visit?”
“Oh yeah!” Perking up a bit, Twilight got off the bed, stretching a little before continuing. “I forgot to perform my enchantments on the room.” Walking over to the door, she aimed her horn at it, causing the handle to glow with the magenta color of her magic. “Locking enchantment. This way, only I can open the door.” She said as she made her way to the window, making it glow the same way. “Strengthening enchantment.” However, as she said this she remembered all the different ways in which Rainbow Dash had 'entered' the library. Soon the entire wall was aglow. ”There. No way is one of her tricks sending her in here now.” She said with some pride in her voice for thinking ahead. She made her way into the middle of the room. Sitting down in the middle she made a bubble of magic. It quickly expanded to encompass the entire room before dissipating. “One-way sound-proofing.”
Upon hearing nothing else the AP decided to make an inquiry. ’Was there anything else you might have forgotten Twilight?’ she asked, wanting to make sure her creator didn’t forget anything and cause herself stress. Or at least that’s what she told herself. Another part of her said that it was more than just that. That she was genuinely worried for her.
“Oh. Yeah. There was one other thing.” Twilight said, her voice quieting slightly towards the end, catching the AP’s attention.
’Twilight? Is something wrong?’
Shaking her head slightly Twilight smiled toward the unexpressive body. “No. Nothing’s wrong at all. I just... I want to thank you somehow for being such a good listener. But I’m not sure how to do that exactly.”
‘Although it’s not like I had much of a choice.’ She said, chuckling slightly before quickly adding, ’Not that I didn't enjoy it that is!’
“That! Right there! That’s why I want to thank you. You didn't simply hear me talking. You listened. I've grown really used to ponies never actually listening to me. The just hear me talk. Sure some try to listen but if they don’t understand they just ask me to simplify it. Not explain it or anything. Just word it different. But you. You actually listened. That and you just said you enjoyed it. That-. Well, to be honest. That’s not something I’m used to.” Twilight explained before making her way over to the ponnequin at the other side of the room. Once she was next to it she got up on her hind legs and embraced it in a hug. Before long the lack of dialogue from Twilight caused curiosity to get the better of the AP.
Twilight? I’m just curious. What are you doing?
“I’m hugging you. I know you can’t feel it. But ponies always say it’s the thought that counts. Besides. I've hugged all my close friends before. Just because you can’t feel it doesn't mean you’ll get treated any different.” She said while continuing her hug.”
’Friends? You consider me your…friend? She asked, confusion obvious in her voice, though not overpowering the sound of hope and happiness in it. She had many memories and plenty of information on Twilight and her friends. Their friendships. But she hadn't once even thought she could have been among them as a fellow friend to Twilight.
“Of course. I mean, yeah, we've only known each other for a day. But, you just listened to a good chunk of my life story after all.” She said, laughing slightly before continuing, “But yes. I consider you a friend.” She finished before giving an unfelt nuzzle to the neck of the ponnequin and backing away.
’I-‘ She began, seemingly unable to make a proper response. Thank you. Twilight- just- Thank you. I’ll try to not disappoint you.
“I’m sure you won’t. All you have to do is be a good friend. But, it’s getting late. I should be going to bed. So should you. After all, the spell does need to recharge.”
Of course. I wish you a good night, Twilight.
“A good night to you as well. I'll try to come and talk with you a couple hours each day. We can get through maybe the rest of my story up till now in maybe...two weeks. Sleep tight.” Twilight said as she put the ponnequin back into the closet and made her way out of the room.
Twilight entered her room, making her way up the stairs to her bed. “Sorry about tha-“ She started before noticing Spike curled up in his bed. She couldn't help but smile at the sight before making her way in to her own bed. “Night Spike” She said quietly as to not wake him. Little did she know however that, up until when she had cast the sound proofing spell Spike had his head up against the wall, listening in on the room she had just left and he was currently wide awake, worried thoughts swirling through his head.
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Is Twilight going to tell anypony about the AP she created?
2271464
Nope. She doesn't want anyone knowing that she has something to keep her calm when her friends are around.
2271489 But knowing her the others will find out.
Uhm.... I thought she put a one-side-sound-stopping (or whatever^^) spell on the room? How could Spike still be listening in on her?
2271610
He didn't know she put the spell up. Remember she said out loud what the spell did after she cast it.
Therefore my thoughts were that he was still straining to hear something even though there was no way for him to have heard anything after the spell. But, imma change that bit up a lil to make it make more sense later on.
first thoughts as I read the description;
"...it's not going to try and replace her, is it?"
damn, mind, you sure come up with creepy ideas....
silly brain, be quiet and read the story....
Twi has a crush on Rares?!
2271671 I see. Sorry for not having thought about that
2273467
I fixed it. Should read easier there now.
2273473 it does^^ thank you^^
I believe it was this chapter where things seemed to change. Before this chapter the only hint that Twilight had such a big feel for Rarity was the small extra information AP got from her, it was benign enough that she just was attracted to her, but here it jumps into an unrequited love angle. What I liked about the story was how Twilight was acknowledging that she can sometimes become unhinged and was therefore taking steps to deal with that. Her creating her own personal sounding board and extra friend who can reign her in was what stood out in the story. I liked the cute scene at the end here where she hugs the AP.